Game 6: Spurs win another close one

Home is where they don’t boo you. Michael Finley and the Spurs are headed for home for Game 7 against the Dallas Mavericks.

Finley’s 3-pointer with 2:45 left Friday night put the Spurs up for good in their 91-86 victory over the Dallas Mavicks in Game 6 in Dallas.

Finley, a former Maverick, scored 16 points on a night when the Dallas fans booed him at every opportunity.

The Mavs’ Dirk Nowitzki badly missed on a 3-point attempt with Finley in his face and the final 10 seconds of the game running out. The Spurs’ Tony Parker made a pair of free throws with five seconds left to help put it away.

Manu Ginobili led the Spurs with 30 points. Tim Duncan had 24.

The Mavs led for much of the second and third quarters. The Spurs never led by more than two points until Duncan completed a three-point play with 8:01 left in the game.

THIRD QUARTER

Duncan scored seven points in the first three minutes of the second half as the Spurs erased an eight-point Mavs lead and tied it 54-54. The Spurs hit 8 of 8 from the free-throw line in the quarter and the teams headed into the fourth quarter tied 67-67.

The Mavericks took only one free throw in the fourth quarter, that coming on Dirk Nowitzki’s three-point play with 50 seconds left.

Ginobili had 22 points through three quarters and Duncan had 17. Nowitzki had 22 points for the Mavs.

SECOND QUARTER

Nowitzki scored 13 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 47-41 halftime lead. The Spurs had 10 first-half turnovers. They turned the ball over twice on inbounds plays in the final seconds of the half.

Ginobili led the Spurs with 17 points.

The Spurs made 14 of 19 free-throw attempts in the half. The Mavs made 15 of 17.

The Spurs had four players with three fouls in the first half: Ginobili, Bruce Bowen, Duncan and Robert Horry. Josh Howard and DeSagana Diop had three fouls for the Mavs.

FIRST QUARTER

When the Mavs needed someone to fill a hole in their starting lineup Friday, they had the luxury of turning to a former All-Star. Jerry Stackhouse made his first start of the playoffs and scored seven points in the first five minutes of Game 6.

Josh Howard and Nowitzki scored nine points each to lead the Mavs to a 25-20 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Duncan led the Spurs with five points in the quarter, but also picked up two fouls in the quarter. The Mavs’ Devin Harris and DeSagana Diop also had two fouls.

The Spurs were 4 of 6 from the free-throw line in the quarter. The Mavs were 5 of 5.

PREGAME

The shuffling of lineups continued heading into Friday night’s Game 6 between the Spurs and Mavericks in Dallas.

Earlier in the series, Mavericks coach Avery Johnson gave the Dallas starting lineup an extra burst of speed with the insertion of Devin Harris. Friday night he was faced with having to make another change, needing to replace suspended starter Jason Terry.

Terry is averaging 17.9 points and 4.4 assists in the playoffs. Stackhouse, who made his first start of the playoffs on Friday night in place of Terry, is averaging 15.1 points and 1.7 assists in the playoffs. Stackhouse did start 11 games during the regular season.

The Spurs have been shuffling players throughout the playoffs. As recently as Game 4, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich started Brent Barry in place of Manu Ginobili at guard. Ginobili returned to the starting lineup in Game 5. Priot to that, Popovich had used four different players — Nazr Mohammed, Rasho Nesterovic, Robert Horry and Michael Finley — at the big spot next to Tim Duncan.